(1) The blithe association of a wholesome childhood food with fake cosmetic breast enlargement caused me to suffer an emotional trauma which would not subside until I began taking deep, cleansing breaths while looking at this.

This is another sign of the times. Gel bra inserts are reasonable expenses today while down and out Cosmetic Surgeons are filing for Bankruptcy. The breast enhancement business should qualify for Stimulus Funds to raise the national morale which is really flat now. I suggest that Obama's single payer plan could include them as easily as it now includes abortion on demand and that should win him some male votes for its passage.

Did anyone see PBS Frontline The Warning with Brooksley Born CFTC Chair under Clinton who in 1996 warned of the approaching derivative crisis but was shut down?

Excerpt:Greenspan, Rubin and Summers ultimately prevailed on Congress to stop Born and limit future regulation of derivatives. "Born faced a formidable struggle pushing for regulation at a time when the stock market was booming," Kirk says. "Alan Greenspan was the maestro, and both parties in Washington were united in a belief that the markets would take care of themselves."

Now, with many of the same men who shut down Born in key positions in the Obama administration, The Warning reveals the complicated politics that led to this crisis and what it may say about current attempts to prevent the next one.

Congress has available to it quarterly derivative reports published since the mid-1990's that showed exploding amounts of exposure banks were undertaking without anyone properly understanding the nature and complexity of derivatives.

Something to fill out today's cup of cake: I have heard that the real reason for the Fox News Network's recent auto de fe was their reporting on a sighting of John Kerry getting off the plane returning from a negotiation meeting among the Russians and Iranians and the Obama Administration on the fate of the new Iranian U-235 Fission Device and Israel's suddenly shortened life expectancy. This cut Hillary and Bill out of the loop in favor of a man Obama and friends trust to carry out their plans. That is is the story that the news media are being warned not to go there about like Fox News dared to. My source for this has the Top American Security Clearance that exists. Something big seems to be brewing for the Holy Land.

In England, a shocking conspiracy has been revealed. What's even more shocking is that only now have people realized it was a deliberate plan. And, here at home, most Americans don't realize that the similar things happening here are also part of a deliberate plan.

That's one of the reasons I oppose these idiots. They either aren't concentrating on that much more important issue or they're on the other side.

Alpha...That faked but true quoting from Obama was obviously faked since we had never heard those deliscious false quotes before...just like the deliscious false quotes about Rush had never been heard before. It was a trick to prove Rush's point that faked attributions are not acceptible tactics no matter what CNN and MSNBC say.They are the latest versions of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion forgeries quoted as real all over the antisemite world.

In England, a shocking conspiracy has been revealed. What's even more shocking is that only now have people realized it was a deliberate plan. And, here at home, most Americans don't realize that the similar things happening here are also part of a deliberate plan.

That's one of the reasons I oppose these idiots. They either aren't concentrating on that much more important issue or they're on the other side.

Wacko is just about what you are. This has been a plot of the lefties in Dear Old England for forty years. An MP named Enoch Powell tried to stop it and predicted what would happen. The lefties Alinskyized him, of course, and got their way, but everything he said came true.

The real reason you are afraid of the Tea Partiers (and that's it, you don't "oppose" them) is that they're the true voice of the American people and all that stands between Barry , Pelosi Galore, and the rest of the neo-, crypto-, proto-communists in the Democrat Party from turning this country into the Soviet Union or Cuba (or both).

Rush Limbaugh and other right wing windbags got taken by a satire post about Barack Obama's thesis.

Considering that the idea has been holy writ in the Democrat Party since that unreconstructed Confederate Woody Wilson wrote a couple of books about it, I'd say they were going on a reasonable assumption. Particularly since Barry has been trashing the Constitution since he took the oath to protect and defend it from all enemies, foreign and domestic, in January.

Then again, it might not be a hoax; the little twerp just might have seen the real thing and told the truth.

I applaud these cupcakes. Nothing depresses me more than the thought of silicone implants -- almost every pair of boobs has its unique charm, like snowflakes. Yet I can see why women would like to change their shape on occasion, so why not externally, without the risk of harm?

The lead dog on derivative non-regulation was Phil Gramm, so I don't see the role of the Clintonistas here, by the way.

Yes, I'm all a-scared of a very small number of Randroid loons who've shown time and time again that they don't have the brainpower for anything beyond cheap stunts and community organizing. They don't represent the thoughts of most Americans and they don't represent mainstream values; if they did, the Libertarian Party would be a powerhouse and Ron Paul would be president. The "partiers" are in part a creation of RonPaul fans and in part a creation of the Kochtopus (search it) and similar groups. Just because they've been able to find a fair number of useful idiots doesn't take away from that.

The reason I discuss them is in large part because I want to discredit their leaders and show how they're incompetent in an attempt to reduce the impact of those leaders on the "ImmigrationDebate". Most of their leaders support MassiveImmigration (example: Dick Armey), and the "partiers" either support that or can't figure out its role in increasing their taxes.

Another problem is that the "partiers" are sucking all the air out of the room, making it difficult to find smart people who want to actually have an impact and do things like "cross-examine" a politician with questions like the one here. The "partiers" just aren't smart enough to do something like that, prefering to go disrupt meetings and wave loopy signs like children. They aren't smart enough to differentiate between their goals and how they achieve their goals; instead of using better techniques - such as "cross-examining" politicians - they've taken to heart the outdated tactics of Alinsky. They're willing to use disreputable tactics, but aren't willing to use honorable and intelligent tactics. They're also the best friends of the Democrats, splitting the GOP into its Randroid vs sane wings.

Butternut squash is not a thing I'm familiar with and I must thank BJM for bringing it to my attention. I'm amazed how sweet it is when roasted. It temporarily got me off my aged balsamic kick before I used it all up and would be forced to go off and buy another bottle. I have tons more ideas for butternut I intend to try, just to see what happens, butternut French fries made the deep-fried way and not the baked way, butternut tempura while I'm on it with the hot oil, Mashed butternut and gravy like potatoes and possibly mixed with them, butternut casserole with wild mushroom and pecans (and possibly spinach or chard), cubed butternut with crunchy oatmeal topping with maple syrup, butternut lasagna, butternut and sweet potato pie, butternut cheesecake. Carved butternut squash like a pumpkin (it already has a built-in mandible, or an oversized brain, the possibilities seem quite good.)

Yes, I'm all a-scared of a very small number of Randroid loons who've shown time and time again that they don't have the brainpower for anything beyond cheap stunts and community organizing. They don't represent the thoughts of most Americans and they don't represent mainstream values; if they did, the Libertarian Party would be a powerhouse and Ron Paul would be president.

Community organizing is the other side, remember? As for the thoughts of most Americans, how do you explain tens (in some cases, hundreds) of thousands showing up at these events?

The "partiers" are in part a creation of RonPaul fans and in part a creation of the Kochtopus (search it) and similar groups. Just because they've been able to find a fair number of useful idiots doesn't take away from that.

Useful idiots is your side. I don't see a lot of pictures of Ron Paul in the crowds at the events, but I'm sure you see them on your special viewer.

The reason I discuss them is in large part because I want to discredit their leaders and show how they're incompetent in an attempt to reduce the impact of those leaders on the "ImmigrationDebate". Most of their leaders support MassiveImmigration (example: Dick Armey), and the "partiers" either support that or can't figure out its role in increasing their taxes.

Well, that's the Alinsky model, isn't it? Discredit the leaders, personalize, isolate, all the other commie tactics. As for immigration, it's so unreasonable of them to want people who are living off government services (their tax dollars) to at least be here legally.

Another problem is that the "partiers" are sucking all the air out of the room, making it difficult to find smart people who want to actually have an impact and do things like "cross-examine" a politician with questions like the one here. The "partiers" just aren't smart enough to do something like that, prefering to go disrupt meetings and wave loopy signs like children. They aren't smart enough to differentiate between their goals and how they achieve their goals; instead of using better techniques - such as "cross-examining" politicians - they've taken to heart the outdated tactics of Alinsky. They're willing to use disreputable tactics, but aren't willing to use honorable and intelligent tactics. They're also the best friends of the Democrats, splitting the GOP into its Randroid vs sane wings.

The "honest and intelligent tactics" used by both Bushes while they were defamed with Alinskitelies? That's the way the lefties like it; the real Americans try to play by the rules while the Leftpractices what they were taught in the Comintern.

And let's talk about the smart people, like the rocket scientists in DC who quadrupled the deficit in nine months or the brain trust in NY who picked Scozzafava. The reason you are scared (and, yes, you are) of the Tea Party movement is that they've taken Alinsky's methods and turned them against the enemies of this country in the best tradition of Robert Rogers.

You're scared because the movement is growing and they are sucking the air out of the debate, because people are listening to them and agreeing.

I don't really have the time to respond to edutcher's latest incoherent ramblings, ramblings that have no clue about my actual position on various matters. However, here's my extensive tea party coverage. That includes, among many other things, calculations showing just how little power the "partiers" actually have.

1. Once again, edutcher appears to have missed the part where the right's "braintrust" - including at least one person at NRO - has encouraged their followers to engage in Alinsky tactics. The major source of that idiocy is Glenn Reynolds, although he's not alone.

2. There is very, very little support for the things that the "party" leaders and many of their supporters want. If there were, the LP would be a major force instead of a joke. The "movement" isn't growing; it will never grow beyond a very small base that represents at the absolute most a couple percent of the U.S. population. And, most of those supporters are already in red areas, meaning the only effect they'll have is on already vulnerable RINOs. They don't have numbers and even more significantly they don't have the brainpower to take on the Dems.

3. The issues they're ignoring are issues that actually have salience to most Americans except for the far-left. Most Americans oppose IllegalImmigration; the "partiers" are in bed with those who support it like Armey. Most Americans oppose far-left social engineering; the "partiers" don't have the intellectual heft to take that on.

The "partiers" are the types who freak out and throw tantrums during a crisis rather than coming up with effective plans. In a movie, they'd be the ones who the audience would cheer when they were eaten by a crocodile.

It's Darwinism in action to see them whine and moan and think they're having an impact at the same time as the Dems deprive them of power.

He was in the right place at the right time. Plus, he was McCain's economics guru -- an anxiety-making prospect to anyone who knew how he pave the way for the derivatives meltdown.

A fun if frightening read:

http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2767

In the early evening of Friday, December 15, 2000, with Christmas break only hours away, the U.S. Senate rushed to pass an essential, 11,000-page government reauthorization bill. In what one legal textbook would later call ‘a stunning departure from normal legislative practice,’ the Senate tacked on a complex, 262-page amendment at the urging of Texas Sen. Phil Gramm.

There was little debate on the floor. According to the Congressional Record, Gramm promised that the amendment—also known as the Commodity Futures Modernization Act—along with other landmark legislation he had authored, would usher in a new era for the U.S. financial services industry.